I’ve already posted about this in the Discord, but, for anyone interested, chapter 2 is now done. It’s been a long road getting here, and I took way longer than I should have to finish (got sick about halfway in, it’s nothing serious but putting in eight hours at work and coming home with a migraine has a way of slowing progress down.)

I’d like to thank anyone who’s been following this project for their patience, and wish good luck to Dosmaen, EpsilonEagle, PianoTM, Riggy2K3, and OzzyTheOne, and to anyone who might find themselves participating in the future.

Here are some screenshots, for anyone interested:





I’m also happy to announce that while I still use a few stock music tracks here and there my good friend Ellie (she posts in this forum under the name otherellie) has composed an entirely unique soundtrack for the chain game.

I’m not very well versed on musical theory so I can’t explain how good she is in technical terms, so I think the best way to understand how much of a difference she made is to watch this video:

https://youtu.be/Tj-GZJhfBmI?si=85qed1_f8cOMyEms

I’d like to think my 3D art was okay, and that my maps had a neat atmosphere to them, but that’s been enhanced a hundred times over, and the emotional scenes now hit harder than ever. I can’t say enough good things about her.

Anyway!

I had a lot of fun working on this chapter, and I hope everyone enjoys making a follow up to my weird Falloutesq Cyberpunk/Space Opera that’s also Buffy chapter.

My goal was to flesh out the setting as much as possible and establish who the characters are and what they want. Chapter 2 has a story, but it’s mostly concluded in the ending, with what I hope is enough room to tell whatever story you want to tell.

I want to stress that nobody has to use anything I made. I tried to make the galaxy map, for example, able to accommodate new planets, and I tried to make the spaceship big enough for future plot to take place there, but if anything I did doesn’t really vibe with anyone, feel free to just fudge things or get rid of them entirely. Ultimately the thing that’s going to see you through finishing your respective chapters is passion, so make something you want to make and don’t worry that I might get offended because you killed off Dante or whatever.

I used a lot of material under various creative commons licenses. Last time I included a .txt file with all of the copyright information but that’s a bit easy to miss, so I think it’s probably better to just write it all out here, and the guy making the final chapter can come back and copy it in, when it’s time to do the credits.

Audio (sound effects):

2 Impact Wet, by Original Sound, used under a CC BY 3.0 License
50 Caliber MG_2 by Qubodup, used under a CC0 License
Achievement Happy Beeps Jingle, by Eponn, used under a CC0 License
Bending Mental, by NachmahrTV, used under a CC0 License
book_page, by fellur, used under a CC0 License
Button Switch, On, by MATRIXXX_, used under a CC0 License
Chainsaw Cut Quick, by DrinkingWindGames, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Chest Opening, by Spookymodern, used under a CC0 License
CRT Computer Monitor Start Up, by Corkob, used under a CC0 License
Cyber Punch 02, by JohnLoser, used under a CC BY 3.0 License
Demonic Anger, by MATRIXXX_, used under a CC0 License
Distant Explosion, by Justkiddink, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Door, Front, Opening A, by InspectorJ, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Dry Transition, by Electroviolence, used under a CC0 License
DullThud, by TriquyStudip, used under a CC0 License
Elevator_Opening by GilPS, used under a CC0 License
Firespell1, by Alonsotm, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Fly by Benboncan used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Fusion Gun Flash, by OnlyTheGhost, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Glass Breaking, by Ruben_Uitenweerde, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Healing Spell, by EminYILDRIM, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Impact-Leatherbelt-001, by DWOBoyle, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Item Equip, by Mrickey13, used under a CC0 License
Knife Scrape 4, by StormwaveAudio, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Magic Fire Impact. by EminYILDRIM, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Magic Hit Impact, by EminYILDRIM, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Magic Lightning Spell Impact & Punch, by EminYILDRIM, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Magic Projectile Impact, by rafaelzimrp, used under a CC0 License
Minimalist Sci-fi UI Cancel, by Plasterbrain, used under a CC0 License
Minimalist Sci-fi UI Error by Plasterbrain, used under a CC0 License
Modern UI Accept, by Panuela, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Modern UI Scrol, by Panuela, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Mutant Scream, by Scorpion67890, used under a CC0 License
NastyMagicAttack by Arcana23, used under a CC BY 3.0 License
Phone Ringing #4, by AUDACITIER, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Plasma Slinger, Dpren, used under a CC0 License
Plastic CD case opening and closing, by mewpudding101, used under a CC0 License
reaper-sidewinder-bootsound, by E.K.-Dawn, used under the conditions that her music can be used in the game, but cannot be used in any sort of synth library
Robot Zombie Screan, by Wboycher, used under a CC0 License
RPGPowerUp, by colorsCrimsonTears, used under a CC0 License
School Bell, by deleted_user_7020630, used under a CC0 License
Sci Fi UI Button Sound 019, by Crash_358, used under a CC0 License
Sci-fi SFX by ScreamStudio, used under a CC0 License
Scratch, by Jameswrowles, used under a CC0 License
ScribMED2, by Aboe, used under a CC0 License
Shotgun – Fire by AbuNijmeh, used a CC0 License
Shotgun, Ready 04 by MATRIXXX_, used under a CC0 License
Stab, Metal Knife in Lettuce, D, by InspectorJ, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Stingers and Stabs 001, by Rodincoil, used under a CC0 License
Submachine Gun Automatic Fire, by SuperPhat, used under a CC0 License
UI Accept Unfa, used under a CC0 License
Whoosh by Qubodup, used under a CC0 License

Audio (Music, Stock):

Alarm_Clock, Kwahmah_02, used under a CC0 License
Anime Fight Music Loop#1, by Sirkoto51, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Clown Circus, by Peritune, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Conqurer, by Peritune, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Diisco Time – Cinematic Disco Retro Music, by Szegvari, used under a CC0 License
Foreboding, by Peritune, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Horror Soundscape, by Headphaze, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
HorrorCaveAmbient, by Shelbyshark, used under a CC0 License
Loop Gentle Wind Ambience on an Open Desert Plain, by Dhallcomposer, used under a CC0 License
Medium-Hard Rain Indoors Window on a Creak Occasional Thunder, by Vincent2Cent, used under a CC0 License
SewerSoundscape, by Inspector K, used under a CC BY 4.0 License
Spook 5, by Peritune, used under a CC BY 4.0 License

Audio (Music, custom):

The following tracks were made by the supremely competent E.K.-Dawn, and are used under the conditions that while her music can be used in the game, they cannot be used in any sort of synth library

reaper-battle-sidewinder
reaper-battle-sidewinder2
reaper-sidewinder-charity-home
reaper-sidewinder-club
reaper-sidewinder-desert
reaper-sidewinder-map-ship-explore
reaper-sidewinder-me-shot
reaper-sidewinder-mystery
reaper-sidewinder-overworld
reaper-sidewinder-postshot
reaper-sidewinder-school
reaper-sidewinder-shotandpostshotcombined
reaper-sidewinder-song
reaper-sidewinder-song-chorus-piano
reaper-sidewinder-song-vocals

Charasets:

Most of the charasets in the game are edits from the RTP, Mack, Tara, and the RPGmaker 2000 Handbook (I actually did buy it, so I’m allowed to use stuff from there)

Tilesets:

The upper tile was taken from daj-dukebasev2, and was created by Dajhail back in 2005.

Facesets:

All facesets in this chapter were RTP, RTP edits, or drawn by me, with the exception of a single one which was taken from a live action film Jetrotal made, and is used with his permission. I don’t claim any ownership over the RTP edits, and they can be used by anyone, freely, without credit provided they comply with any conditions stipulated in the actual RTP.

Textures:

Textures.com
Plaintextures.com
Pixabay
(Plus a few photos I took, here and there)
NASA

Any 3D assets used in Chapter 2 should be considered CC0 and can be used freely in any project.

Misc Sprites

All of the battle character and enemy sprites were made custom by me. They’re available to use under a CC0 license and can be used freely in any project (though why you’d want to is beyond me.)

Misc Footage
There's a short loop from Gold Rush Daze used, it's in the public domain so no worries about lawsuits or anything.

There's a brief snippit from a student film Jetrotal did, that's also used with his permission.

I like the art style. I'll have to check out the demo when I'm less busy.

Hey, just a quick update.

I'm two weeks into the project, I've been working on it fairly consistently and progress has been steady. I'm a little hesitant to commit to a concrete deadline, obviously things out of my control can happen, but barring some disaster, I should be finished no later than April 14th.

Here's some screenshots, for anyone who's curious. I'm open to any feedback (even if you just want to tell me it sucks, that's actually fine by me.)







All the maps in Chapter 2 will be pre-rendered (with the exception of the autotile, which is from a Dajhail tileset). This is mostly because Chapter 1 was sci-fi, and as anyone who's ever tried to make a sci-fi game in RPGmaker 2003 can attest it's very difficult to find sci-fi tilesets, especially since ripped graphics aren't allowed in the Chain Game. 

While I'm by no means a competent environmental artist, I do know enough about Blender to (mostly) get by. It's just easier for me to spend extra time modelling something, than it is for me to spend time hunting through old Japanese websites looking for some way to depict a bridge made of fuel pipes or whatever. So, expect something along the lines of a very low budget Final Fantasy 7 or Septerra Core. That being said, I don't think future chapters will use 3D pan maps, so if you don't like the style then you're in luck, and if you do, enjoy chapter 2 while you can because it'll probably be back to tilesets afterwards.

Setting-wise, I'm trying to make something similar to Fading Suns. It's an obscure Tabletop RPG from the late 90's and early 2000's, it's somehow completely generic to the point where you can adapt pretty much any D&D, Shadowrun, or Star Wars D6 adventure into the setting but it also does this while maintaining a distinct feel and identity. Better than 40K, in my opinion.

Obviously I can't really predict what'll happen in the next five chapters so for all I know chapter 3 will retcon everything I wrote into being a dream, but I'm gambling that it'll come in handy later.

I don't want to get into too many story details, but my chapter will likely end with the protagonist owning a spaceship and working for one of the major factions. If chapter 1 was the Endar Spire, chapter 2 would be Taris and Dantooine, respectively (boy I sure hope you played KOTOR, otherwise that sentence would sound a bit like gibberish, huh?)

But, again, I don't really have (or particularly want to have) control over what future developers do, so if you're reading this and rolling your eyes at the though of making a medieval space opera about a clown uprising, feel free to kill off my Mary Sues original characters and do whatever you want. Just be creative and make something fun.

Glad to see this project is finally released.

Had a lot of fun working on Chapter 6, though in hindsight I think it wound up being one of the weaker chapters.